


Going after him

by Edom



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-11-21
Updated: 2010-11-21
Packaged: 2017-10-13 07:50:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/134891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Edom/pseuds/Edom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brian visits Justin in New York. What does he find?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Beta by TayTay4936, I couldn't do any of it without you.

One month after Justin leaves for New York, Brian comes for a visit. Justin looks a little tired, and he tells Brian that he misses him terribly. Brian knows the feeling.

Justin has a job at a diner, much like the one at home. It’s not a dream job in any possible way, but for now, it pays the bills and gives him enough time to paint and make the rounds to the galleries.

His paintings are as beautiful and haunting as ever, but Brian can’t help the feeling that something’s missing in them. He can’t put his finger on what it is, and he doesn’t ask. He would never do that to Justin.

Two months after Justin leaves for New York, Brian is visiting again. This time, Justin is a little slimmer than the last time, not dangerously so, just enough for Brian to notice. Again, something he would never tell.

Justin had to get a second job. His roommate kept bitching about the paint fumes, so he had to get a place of his own. It’s not in a horrible neighborhood, but not in a particularly good one, either. The place is small, even smaller than the one he had in Pittsburgh, but at least it’s cleaner. There are three locks on the door and Brian isn’t quite sure if that should make him worry more or less.

He stays for the weekend at Justin’s place because he knows it will make him happy.

Three months after Justin leaves for New York, Brian gets a shock when he sees him. He has lost even more weight and his paintings, the few new that are there, are all dark and very depressing, not a light color in sight.

The “apartment” is still clean, the locks still work and Justin hasn’t been mugged or robbed, but that is about the only positive thing Brian can say. He’s horrified.

Justin didn’t smile his sunshine smile once the whole weekend Brian was there and he clung to him as if he would never let go when Brian had to leave Sunday night.

Four months after Justin leaves for New York, Brian comes back, this time to stay.

After he came back to Pittsburgh after the first visit, he realized what had been missing from Justin’s paintings, life. There was absolutely no life in any of his work. It was still beautiful, technically, but lifeless.

That’s when Brian decided to have a little chat with his CFO and his assistant. They both agreed, and at the end of some very long, but very productive meetings, it was decided that Kinnetik was moving to New York; at least, most of it was. They would still keep a skeleton crew in the Pittsburgh office. That way, they could always come back in case it was a wash.

So, three months after the initial meeting, Kinnetik was moving. Well, at first, only the CEO and president of the company was moving, but the rest would follow as soon as he had found the perfect location and got it up and running. He also needed to find a place to live; there was no way in hell he was living in Justin’s rat hole longer than necessary.


	2. Arriving in New York

**Brian POV**

It was Friday night and it was close to 8 o’clock when I arrived at his ’apartment’. It really is a shithole, and I couldn’t wait to take him out to look at somewhere for US. I knocked on the door, and when he opened it, he looked even worse than the last time I saw him. I almost cursed in horror, but stopped myself at the last minute.

“Brian.”

My name was nothing more than a breath and he all but fell into my arms.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I would have cleaned the place up a little.”

I went into the living room area and looked around; the place was practically spotless. I know that he cleans when he’s depressed, that or smokes, but considering he can hardly afford rent, I don’t really think he can afford cigarettes.

“It’s a surprise, Sunshine.”

I hugged him to me and was terrified to realize that I could feel his ribs, even through both our shirts. I pulled away from him a little and kissed him gently. I took my bag to the bed and put it down.

“Did you eat yet? I’m starving; I hate airplane food, even if it is first class.”

He shook his head and I went to the take-out menus and found the one from the pizza place he had found the first week he lived here. They make very good pizzas and even have a halfway decent assortment of desserts. I order a large pizza and fully intend to let him eat most of it. I also order a tiramisu, and he just looks at me funny.

“What?”

I ask when I shut the phone off.

“Tiramisu? When did you start to eat dessert?”

“I told you; I’m starving. Now, we have about an hour before they get here. What will we do with ourselves in all that time?”

I smirk at him and he smiles a slow smile before pulling his shirt over his head. I have a hard time schooling my expression not to show my shock. He’s fucking thin, close to malnourished, and I’m scared for him. I think it was in the nick of time I got here.

I help him out of the rest of his clothes and walk him to the bed. I take my bag off it and lay him down gently. I strip out of my own clothes while he watches me intently. I love watching his eyes grow darker and his breath more ragged as his cock hardens.

Once I’m naked, I lie down next to him and stroke his stomach and chest lightly. His eyes drop closed and he all but purrs. I fucking love that sound and always try to get him to make it. I lean in over him and follow my hand with my tongue. He starts panting instead of purring, and that’s just fine, too.

He’s close to cumming, and I take pity on him. I take his cock all the way down my throat and he bucks off the bed and cums with my name on his lips.

I crawl up his body and give him a soft, leisurely kiss. He thrusts his tongue into my mouth to taste himself on me. I hump his hip while kissing him and it doesn’t take long before I’m cumming on his stomach. I like the fact that my cum is almost indistinguishable from his skin because he is so fair.

I collapse on top of him and wait for my breathing to return to normal before lifting up to look at him.

“God, I’ve missed you.”

His answering smile is blinding.

“I’ve missed you too, Brian.”

We get up off the bed and wash up a little in the kitchen sink. The bathroom is out in the hallway and there is no way in hell I’m going out there with my cum on my stomach.

We put on some sweats and sat down to wait for the pizza. It came just as we had sat our collective asses on the ratty old couch, and I got up again to open the door and pay the delivery guy.

I put the box on the coffee table and opened it. I saw the way his eyes widened, his mouth practically watering at the sight and smell, and I realized that even I could eat.

“Dig in while it’s hot.”

We ate in silence, and as predicted, he ate most of it. When I found two forks and opened the tiramisu, he dug right in and I only had a couple of forkfuls.

When all the food was gone, I sat back against the armrest and pulled him to me. He was resting with his back against my stomach and I found myself caressing his stomach lightly.

“When are you going back?”

He sounded so dejected, and I was so fucking happy that my answer could maybe cheer him up a little.

“Trying to get rid of me already, Sunshine?”

“No, no, Brian, you know I’m not. I just want to know so I can prepare myself. I miss you so much when you’re not here.”

“I know, Sonny Boy, me too, which is why I’ve decided to move Kinnetik to New York. I’m not going back. I’m here to stay. We’ll have to go looking for somewhere to live and you’ll have to help me find a location for the office.”

He turned around in my arms so fast he almost knocked us off the couch.

“Are you fucking serious? You’re moving here? With Kinnetik?”

“I really am.”

“Oh my god.”

He threw himself into my arms and I felt his tears on my neck. I pushed him back a little to look at him. He was smiling brightly at me while tears were streaming down his cheeks.

“Is that alright with you, Sunshine? You’ll be ok with having me around all the time?”

I smirked at him and he slapped me lightly in the chest.

“I think I’ll survive having you around on a more regular basis,”

he said with a glint in his eyes.

“Good, we have an appointment with a realtor in the morning to go look at places to live. I told him that we wanted to live in Chelsea; I figured you would want to be close to all the galleries.”

He smiled brightly again and I saw the light slowly begin to come back into his eyes and instantly knew I had made the right decision.

“I have some listings he sent to me; would you like to see them?”

He sat up straight and nodded his head. I got up to get my briefcase and brought it to the couch with me and opened it. I took out the four listings the realtor had sent to me and gave them to him.

“Holy shit, Brian, they are insanely expensive; are you sure you can afford that?”

“If we sell the house we should be able to swing it.”

I look at him with some apprehension. It was his dream house and I had bought it for him.

“Of course you should sell the house. If we are staying in New York, it would be insane to keep it. You could sell the loft, too, maybe.”

“We’ll have to go to Pittsburgh on occasion, and unless you want to stay with your mother or Debbie while there, I don’t think we should sell it.”

“Good point. What about Babylon?”

“Babylon makes a lot of money, so selling that would probably make it harder for us. And WE are selling the house, well, actually you are; it’s in your name.”

“WHAT?”

he all but screams.

“I bought it for you; it’s in your name, and, therefore, it’s your decision. If you would rather keep the house and find something smaller and cheaper here, we can do that.”

He looked completely shocked, but then, he nodded slowly.

“No, it makes sense to keep the loft; the house is too fucking big to just sit there and have us not live in it full time.”

“Good. Now what do you say to the listings?”

“Hm.”

He looked pensive for a while before going back to the listings. He looked through all of them and put down one of them. The other three he kept and looked through again.

“What’s with that one?”

I point to the one he put aside.

“I don’t like that one. There is something about it that bothers me.”

I pick it up and look through it. After a little while, I figure out what the problem is.

“I think you are reacting to the fact that the windows seem to be smallish. We are so used to a lot of light that I think I would balk at the windows, too.”

“Yeah, that might just be it. Let’s go look at the other three tomorrow and see which one we like the best.”

With that, we got up off the couch and cleaned up after dinner and went to bed. We would have a very busy day tomorrow.


	3. Apartment hunting

**Justin POV**

When I woke up, I was confused; something was off; off but very right. Then it hit me, Brian was here, and he was going to stay. I had to hug myself I was so damn happy, and then, I had to hug him; I didn’t really care if I woke him up or not, I just needed to hold him tightly to me, to make sure he was really here.

“Hmpf. Justin, what are you doing?”

“I just wanted to make sure you are really here.”

I smile at him sheepishly and I can see the laughter in his eyes before I can hear it.

“Don’t worry, I’m really here.”

He’s still laughing at me and I have to stop that, so I take a hold of his cock and squeeze it gently. His breath hitches and he grows harder.

“Fuck, Justin.”

“No; fuck, Brian.”

Just as I say that, I move my other hand down between his legs and play with his hole. He spreads his legs a little wider, his silent sign that he’ll let me top. It doesn’t exactly happen often, but occasionally, if I just proceed like it’s a given, he’ll let me.

I grab the lube from the small basket next to the bed where I keep my supplies. Ok, calling it a bed might just be a little much; it’s really just a mattress on the floor, but it’s a very good mattress. Brian bought it for me after the first time he came for a visit and slept on the futon I had back then. He said that even if it was lying on the floor, it was still immensely better than a fucking futon. And yes, he used the word immensely; sometimes he just cracks me up. Usually, you would never guess he’s gay by looking at him or listening to him, but every now and again a word or a gesture will slip out and he’s the gayest thing in the world.

Well, on with the task at hand, so to speak. I squirt some lube onto my fingers and warm it up a little before inserting a single digit in his ass. He bucks a little; as I said, he doesn’t do this very often. After he’s loosened up a little, I pull out the one finger and push in two instead.

He starts panting, and I know I have to move it along. He’ll never beg, but he will growl and if I take too long, he’ll flip us both over and fuck the shit out of me instead. I pull my fingers out and put on the condom. I push into him ever so slowly; I never want to hurt him, ever.

Once I’m fully imbedded, I stop all movement to let him adjust. He pushes back onto me when he is ready, and I pull out slowly before slamming into him forcefully.

“God, Justin, more.”

See, the thing is, he’ll never beg for me to put my cock in his ass, but once it’s there, all bets are off. I pound into him with all my might and we are both panting rather loudly. I can see him reaching for his cock with one hand and I slap it away before grabbing hold of his cock myself. I stroke him in rhythm with my hips, and soon, he is spilling his cum over my fingers, and the feeling of that combined with the clenching of his ass around my cock sends me over the edge.

 **Brian POV**

After a rather spectacular orgasm, I sink deeper into the mattress and feel him slump down onto me. We are both breathing harshly, trying to get our heartbeats back to normal.

I turn my head to look at the clock; it’s 8:15. We have to be at the realtor’s office at 11. If we get up now and take a shower, we will have enough time to get some breakfast somewhere before we have to be there. I have to feed the boy to fatten him up a little. He’s so scarily thin that Deb would kill me if she saw him now. I’d rather like to keep my one remaining ball, thank you very much.

We get up and put on some sweats, grab some towels and the clothes we’ll be wearing today. We make our way to the bathroom down the hall and take a shower; we don’t fuck in there, no need to scare the neighbors too much. We put on the clothes we brought and go back to his apartment. Fuck, I hope we find a place we can move into soon; I don’t know how long I can stand living like this.

We go down and get in the car I’ve leased for the next month. After that, I hope to have found a place to live and some office space, hopefully not too far from each other; that way, we won’t need a car. We drive to a little café midway between Justin’s place and the realtor’s office. We find a parking spot fairly quickly, which is more luck than anything else; someone else is pulling out just as we are driving up. We get out and meet on the sidewalk. I take his hand and he gives me one of his sunshine best.

We have a nice leisurely meal, we are not really in any hurry, and talk about the things we want in an apartment. We both agree that we have to have a studio for Justin, an office, a room for Gus, and a guestroom or two. All the listings the realtor sent me fulfill these requirements; now, it’s just a matter of style and location, I guess.

“Are you sure we can afford this much, Brian?”

“I’m sure. The house should go for a nice price and I have a shitload of money just sitting somewhere collecting interest. Theodore has been on my ass to do something with it for a long time now; he’ll be happy to know I’ll invest some of it in real estate.”

I smirk and he chuckles a little.

“You said that Kinnetik is moving here; what about Ted and Cynthia?”

“They’ll be here as soon as I have the new office picked out and habitable. Some of the rest of the staff will move, too, and I’ll keep a skeleton crew in the Pitts.”

“What about the bathhouse? Are you going to keep it?”

“No, it’s way too big for the people staying on there, and I need the money to buy a new building here and renovate it if necessary.”

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense. How many people are staying on in Pittsburgh?”

“I’ll only need one ad exec, two artists and someone from HR. The rest can be done from here.”

“So, you’ll just rent some office space somewhere there?”

“I’ve actually already put your mother on the task of selling the bathhouse and finding a small space for Kinnetik Pittsburgh.”

“Wait, what? My mother knew? And didn’t tell me?”

I smirk again and he looks at me with the most adorable stunned expression. Fuck, did I just think that? Damn, we have to go look at some apartments before I turn into a muncher.

 ****

After breakfast, we drive on to the realtor’s office and again find a parking space fairly easily. I guess this is our lucky day. We go in and are greeted by a man, about thirty, normal build, light brown hair, and almost washed out blue eyes. My gaydar goes off immediately, maybe because he’s all but salivating over my partner. Fuck, I hate that. I know we’re gay, but still, couldn’t the fucker at least show some fucking restraint when I’m standing right the fuck here?

He didn’t even fucking look at me, just introduced himself to Brian and then showed him to the direction of his desk. Brian turned to me, took my hand, and then looked at the stupid fucker.

“This is my partner, Justin Taylor,”

he said rather pointedly, and the realtor blanched a little, figuring that he just about flirted his way out of a commission. If I have anything to say about it, he did. Fuck, I hope we don’t love one of the places he is going to show us.

We tell him which three properties we would like to see, and then, he leads us to his car. We leave Brian’s rental at the office and go to the first apartment.

As it turned out, we didn’t like the first, the second was incredible but too big, and the price was a little too high at 8.5 million. Mr. Flirty Idiot wasn’t going to show us the third. He drove us back to the car and gave us the address to the last listing. The current owners of the place only wanted one specific realtor to show the place, and he would meet us there.

The place was on west 26th Street, close to 6th avenue. It was 4,500 square feet, 5 bedrooms, and 4½ baths, according to the listing. It sounded incredible and the pictures were beautiful. When we got there, our luck ran out and we couldn’t find a place to park. Brian told me to go on up; we shouldn’t let the realtor wait and think we weren’t interested. He’d find a parking space and join me.

I got out of the car and went into the lobby. I rang the bell for the correct floor and was led up in the elevator. When the door opened, I could do nothing but stare at the man standing there.

“Are you ok? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I shook my head to clear it.

“Sorry, I’m ok. You just look very familiar. I’m Justin Taylor; my partner is trying to find a parking space for the car. He’ll be along shortly.”

“Hello, I’m Liam O’Connor. Have you and your partner lived in New York long?”

While we talked, we were walking into the living room, dining room, and kitchen. The place was amazing.

“I’ve been here for about four months, but my partner just decided to move his business here and join me.”

We walked further in and I asked him some questions that I’m sure he thought sounded somewhat weird, but I just had to know.

I saw the laundry room, staff bedroom and bathroom, and the pantry. That’s when Liam excused himself to go down to his car. He had forgotten some paperwork. He showed me how to operate the elevator should Brian get here before he was back.

I wandered into the office/media room when I heard the buzzer. I went over to the elevator entry to let Brian up. When he got there, I showed him the rooms I had already seen, and then, Liam was back.

Brian was standing with his back to the elevator when he came in.

“Brian, this is Liam O’Connor, the realtor. Liam, this is my partner, Brian Kinney.”

Brian turned around, and both he and Liam froze.

 **Brian POV**

Holy fucking shit; it was like looking into a mirror that put on thirty years. The man looked almost exactly like me except for the extra years. I felt a little lightheaded and was grateful for Justin’s hand on my back. He guided me to a stool by the kitchen counter. Liam followed us and took the stool next to me.

“Brian, Liam told me he is from Pittsburgh; he left there in September of 1970.”

I looked at him and then at Liam.

“Did you know a woman named Joan Kinney?”

I looked at him very closely as I asked that, and he blanched just a little.

“Yes, I did. Is Joan your mother?”

“Yes.”

“When were you born?”

All of us knew, without a doubt that Liam and I were related. There is no way we could look that much alike and not be. He could be her cousin or a brother I had never heard about. I didn’t really believe any of that, but I was desperately grasping at straws.

“June, 1971.”

“My god, she never told me. I would have insisted she come with me instead of just asking her.”

I was shocked.

“What?”

“Oh, sorry. Your mother and I met at church. Not that I’m particularly religious or spend a lot of time there, but my mother wanted me to join her, and I agreed. I saw her almost the minute I walked in there. She was so beautiful, held herself so regally, but she also looked so sad. My mother and I sat in the same pew, and I started talking to her. We became friends and she told me about her loveless marriage, the fact that her husband had only married her because she became pregnant. We met a couple of times a week for coffee and a talk, nothing more. One time, she came to my apartment in tears. She told me that Jack had spent the entire night somewhere, not at home, and when he came home, he smelled of beer and cheap perfume. She had confronted him about it and he had told her that as long as she was such a cold, frigid bitch, he was going to get his needs met elsewhere.”

I had been quiet through all this, but at that, I scoffed. Liam looked at me with a question in his eyes.

“So, you decided she should get back at him?”

“No, I comforted her and she went back home. She and I slept together only once, but that was about three months later. Afterwards, we both felt horrible; neither one of us believes in cheating on your spouse. I begged her to get a divorce and leave with me when I got the job offer here in New York, but she refused. It was about two weeks after we slept together and she looked so tired and worn out when she came to see me. I told her I’d take care of her and Claire, but she said divorce was a sin, and she could never leave Jack. That was the last time I ever saw her.”

Fuck.

“I bet she just found out she was pregnant when you asked her. She figured the divorce couldn’t be final before she started showing, and therefore, it would be easier to just pass the baby off as Jack’s. The thing is, I think he knew.”

I can hear the bitterness in my own voice, and Liam gives me a strange look.

“I have to think about this, and I can’t do that right now.”

“Do you want to leave?”

Justin is standing next to me with one hand drawing circles on my back, and the other one is clasped in one of my hands.

“No, I have to think about something else right now. We might as well look at the rest of the apartment, now that we’re here.”

“Ok, whatever you want, Brian.”

I stand up, never letting go of his hand; it’s the only fucking thing preventing me from blowing into a million pieces right now. We walk around and look at the rest of the place, and it’s actually perfect for us. There is only one guestroom, at least, if we decide to hire a fulltime cook/cleaning lady.

The asking price is 5,625,000, and we will probably be able to come up with that with the sale of the house and what I have.

“What do you think, Sunshine, could we live here?”

“It’s great, Brian; it’s perfect, actually.”

He smiles brightly at me and I turn to…my father, fuck. It all comes tumbling back and I falter for just a second. Justin notices right away and puts his hand on the small of my back. I breathe in deeply and try again.

“Offer them 5.5 and see if they’ll go for it.”

“Ok, I will. Brian…”

This time, he’s the one to falter a little.

“Can we maybe get together and talk sometime?”

I nod.

“But not yet. I have to think about this, and I have to go back to Pittsburgh and talk to the one person I thought I never had to see ever again.”

He looks confused.

“Joan,”

I tell him, and that doesn’t really help the confusion, but I just shake my head; don’t ask, please. He doesn’t, thankfully, and Justin and I leave.


	4. Joan

**Brian POV**

We left the apartment and went down to the car. I had to park a couple of blocks away, and we walked there hand in hand. We didn’t talk, just held on tight. I took comfort in his presence, and that surprised me a little; I’ve never actually allowed anyone’s presence to comfort me before, preferring to manage my pain, confusion, and everything else that came along, alone.

When we got to the car, I unlocked it, but then, I gave Justin the keys; I wasn’t all too sure I’d be able to drive. We got in and he drove us to his place, still in complete silence. I don’t think I have ever loved him more than I did right then, the fact that he knows me well enough to just be there for me, but not pressure me into talking about it before I was ready.

When we arrived at his place, we sat down on the couch and I took his hand.

“I have to go to Pittsburgh and talk to Joan.”

“I know; when are we leaving?”

“You don’t have to come with me Justin; it’s just going to be an overnight stay.”

“If you think I’m going to let you walk into the lion’s den without me, you are crazier than I thought. You are going to need me there, and I’m going with you.”

He looked so determined that I just couldn’t say no to him. Besides, he was right, I am going to need him there.

“I figured we could go tomorrow and then be home sometime Monday afternoon; is that ok?”

“Sure, I’ll just get someone to cover my shift at the diner on Monday. I have the weekend off from both my jobs, thank god.”

“Sunshine, I want you to think about quitting, if not both then at least one of your jobs. Now that I’m here, you don’t need to work that hard. I will help with expenses. Please, just think about it.”

“I don’t have to. I’m quitting the packing plant right now. I have no notice, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”

With that, he took the phone off the base and called his boss at the plant. It wasn’t really factory work, more like sitting in a large hall at some tables, packing shit in boxes. It was shitty work, but the pay was ok.

While he did that, I took out my own phone, called Liberty Air, and booked us on a return trip to the Pitts. Once that was done and Justin was through with his phone call, I asked him to come join me on the couch.

“I was thinking that maybe we shouldn’t stay at the loft this visit, maybe we should book a hotel room for the night. I don’t really feel like explaining why I’m back so soon, and why you are with me. Besides...”

I didn’t know how to tell him this, but I knew we had to talk about the fact that he had gotten so thin. I was worried about him.

“Besides, if any of the family sees me, they are going to freak out over how thin I’ve gotten.”

He gave me a knowing look and I relaxed. Apparently, he knew he had lost a lot of weight.

“I know I look horrible, Brian. I haven’t been eating or sleeping well since I came here. I missed you and the family so much. I hardly had any money, and the little I did have went to rent and supplies, not that I actually got a lot of painting done, but I did work a little.”

I cup his face in both my hands.

“You will never look horrible to me, Sunshine, but you’re right; you do need a little more meat on your bones.”

I smirk at him and he swats me gently across the stomach while he giggles.

“I think you should book us a room somewhere; it’ll be like a mini vacation in our hometown. After that, I want you to take me out for lunch. I’m starving.”

He winks at me and I just smile and take out my phone again. I call information and get the number for the Omni William Penn hotel. It might be one of the most expensive in the Pitts, but it’s also one of the best, and we deserve a little pampering for what we’re about to endure.

When that’s done, we get ready to leave again, this time in pursuit of some food to put some of the lost weight back on Justin. I’m fairly certain that I have bruises on my abdomen from humping him last night and on the ass from him fucking me this morning. I could feel his hipbones digging into me.

“We need to talk about this Justin; I’m a little worried about you. Do you think you should see a doctor, find out if something is wrong with you?”

“Brian, I love that you worry, but you really don’t have to. I went to the doctor about two weeks ago, and he told me that I had to gain some or all the weight I have lost, but there isn’t anything wrong with me physically, otherwise.”

“Ok, but if you haven’t gained at least five pounds in the next two weeks, we’re going back to the doctor’s.”

He smiled a gentle smile at me and nodded his head.

“I promise to eat, Brian. It should help that you’re here. And I expect we’ll be busy for the next while, moving and finding office space and what not. I won’t have time to get depressed. Besides, if I only have one job, I’ll have more time to paint, and seeing as my inspiration just came back, there’s a chance that my work might actually get good again.”

He looked at the paintings standing against the wall in the corner dedicated to his painting and a look of disgust crossed his face.

“Christ, they’re bad. So dark and depressing, but with no real life in them. Not even the good kind of dark feelings. Just boring, really.”

I take hold of him and hug him to me. God, I want him to be ok, and I want him to be his old self again.

“I know, Sunshine, but they’ll get better. You have way too much talent and passion for them not to.”

He looked at me with so much love it almost made me look away.

“You saw it too, how lifeless they are? Why didn’t you say anything to me?”

“Because I knew you already knew that, and I didn’t want to make it any worse by pointing it out.”

He nodded a little as we walked out the door to go look for lunch.

 **Justin POV**

The next morning, we packed an overnight bag and went to the airport. Once in Pittsburgh, we grabbed a cab to the hotel and checked in. The room was, opulent is the word I’d use. It had a king size bed and an amazing bathtub in the bathroom.

We were going to Joan’s house early; Brian wanted her to be at least partly sober when he talked to her, and she wouldn’t be later in the day. It almost broke my heart when he said that, not so much the words, but the hurt in his voice. So raw.

We unpacked our bag and left right away; might as well get it over with, that way, I would have more time to help him get over the hurt afterwards, and I had no doubt there would be a lot of hurt. All I could hope for was that he wouldn’t go back to his old pain management techniques and go out drinking, tricking, and snorting or swallowing the entire alphabet in drugs.

The cab pulled up in front of a small house and we got out. Brian hesitated on the sidewalk and I took his hand in an attempt to offer him some form of comfort. He looked down at our clasped hands, and then, he squeezed them a little.

We started up the garden path, Brian rang the doorbell, and we heard shuffling from inside before the door was opened.

“Brian.”

She sounded shocked, as well she should. I bet she thought she’d never see him ever again, and had we not met Liam, she wouldn’t have.

Then, she saw me and looked down to our entwined hands and her face took on a look of someone who had smelled something foul.

“What are you doing here, and with that boy?”

“May we come in, Mother, or do you want to do this on the front stoop?”

She hurried up and opened the door a little more, ushering us inside. She showed us into the kitchen and we sat at the table across from her.

“What are you doing here, Brian?”

she asked again, and this time, Brian answered.

“Justin and I were looking at apartments in New York and ran into a realtor named Liam O’Connor.”

He didn’t say anything else, but we saw the impact that statement had on her. She became chalk white and her hand moved to her throat.

“What?”

“You heard me; I met my father in New York two days ago.”

“Jack Kinney was your father, Brian.”

“No, he really wasn’t. Liam and I could be the same man in two different stages of life, we look so much alike.” He carted his fingers through his hair in despair. “How could you do that to me, Mother? How could you stay with that abusive drunk when you knew I wasn’t his? He was bound to find out I wasn’t his. Even after he started beating me on an almost daily basis?”

He was almost screaming in her face now, and I started rubbing circles on his back in order to try to calm him down. It seemed to work because he leaned back into my touch and took a deep breath waiting for her reply.

“You would have been a bastard, Brian, illegitimate. Do you have any idea what that would have been like?”

“In New York, in the 70’s, I really don’t think it would have mattered all that much. Besides, it could only have been better than what I had to endure at the hands of Jack.”

Joan stiffened and stared at Brian for a while before she said anything.

“What did he tell you?”

“Not much; he told me how you met and that he asked you to take Claire and go with him to New York, but you refused, telling him divorce was a sin.”

She nodded.

“It is Brian; I would have been shunned from the church, and where would I have been then? It’s the only thing I have left.”

“If you had gone with him, you would still have had him, and there is a good chance I would still be talking to you.”

With that, he got up and I followed him out the door. Joan followed, begging him to understand that it was better the way it had been. Brian looked like he wasn’t listening to her, even if I knew he heard every word.

When we got back to the hotel after yet another quiet car ride in the back of a cab, he stripped me down and laid me on the bed before taking off his own clothes. He crawled on top of me and then just kind of collapsed. I felt his body shake and then I felt his tears on my shoulder. All I could do was hold on tight and offer whatever comfort my body would give him.

After about fifteen minutes, he lifted his head and looked at me.

“I’m sorry, Sunshine.”

“About what?”

I was honestly confused; I didn’t feel he had anything to apologize for.

“For being a pussy faggot that can’t even talk to his own mother without breaking down and crying on his partner’s shoulder.”

He sounded so self-deprecating it broke my heart.

“Brian, how many times have I cried on yours? How many times have I broken down after a confrontation with my father? How many times have you had to put me back together?”

He looked down at my chest for a second before lifting his head and giving me a little smile.

“I guess it was my turn to have a little meltdown, huh?”

I stroked my thumb down his cheek and caught the last tear. I brought my thumb to my mouth and kissed it off. Then, I pulled his head down and gave him a deep and wet kiss.

“I love you, Brian. I really don’t give a shit who your parents are, or whether you have any kind of contact with them. I’m just sad for your sake; I know how much it sucks to be cut off from one.”

He gave me a tiny smile before kissing me again.

“I love you, too, Sunshine. Thank you for going with me today.”

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”


	5. Liam

**Brian POV**

Monday morning found us at the airport once again. This time to go back to New York. While standing in line for security, my phone rang.

“Kinney.”

“Hello, Brian; it’s Liam. They accepted the offer.”

He said it really fast; as if he was worried I’d think he was pushing.

“That’s great.”

I smiled and turned to look at Justin.

“They accepted the offer on the loft, Sunshine.”

He smiled brightly and I went back to the phone.

“Draw up the papers. We’re in Pittsburgh right now in line for security check at the airport, so anytime after 12 is fine by us to come by and sign.”

“How about lunch at my place? I’d really like the chance to get to know you better, Justin too, for that matter.”

I took the phone away from my ear and thought for a second. Justin looked at me and put his hand on my arm.

“What is it, Brian?”

“Liam wants us to have lunch at his place today. He wants to get to know us better.”

“It’s up to you, Brian; he’s your father.”

That’s when it really hit me. Don’t get me wrong, I already knew, but now, I really knew.

“Ok,”

I said into the phone, and he gave me his address.

“Oh, Liam, do you sell commercial real estate too, or just residential?”

“No, I sell commercial too, why?”

“I’m looking for office space. My company is moving most of its operation to New York and I’m going to need about 16,000 square feet, preferably close to the loft. Do you think you could find something like that?”

“I’ll look over my listings and bring some home for lunch.”

“Ok, thanks. We’re going through security now, so we’ll just see you at one?”

“One’s fine, Brian; see you then.”

I hung up and put my phone on the tray to go through x-ray along with my keys and my wallet. I went through the metal detector and, thankfully, it didn’t go off, so I didn’t have to take off my boots. I retrieved my things and moved over to Justin who stood waiting for me.

“I said one o’clock; is that ok?”

“That’s fine, Brian. What else did you talk about?”

“I asked if he did commercial real estate. He does, so he’d find some listings for us to look at.”

“Good thinking. That way, you don’t have to deal with someone new.”

I nodded and threw an arm over his shoulder and guided him towards our gate. The plane would take off in about half an hour.

When we landed, we got in a cab and drove to Justin’s apartment. Fuck, I really, really can’t wait to move out of this shit hole.

We unpacked our bags and I couldn’t stop myself any longer. I gave Justin a look I know always turns him on and I heard him gasp softly. He took off his shirt and I ran my hand down his chest and stomach before helping him out of his pants. Once he was naked, I took off my own clothes and we lay down on the mattress. That’s another thing I’m looking forward to: a bed; a real bed and not just a fucking mattress on the fucking floor.

We fucked ever so slowly and lovingly; I felt I had to thank him for going with me to Pittsburgh and this was the best way I knew how. When we came, almost at the same time, I whispered in his ear,

“I love you.”

His breath hitched and then he looked at me and smiled brightly.

“I love you, too, and I’m so happy you’re here.”

“Me too, Sunshine, me too.”

We got up and went to the bathroom to clean up before going out to lunch at Liam’s place.

 **Justin POV**

I could see that Brian was nervous, so I kept up a one-way conversation in the vain hope that he would relax a little. He didn’t, of course, but I did. I was a little nervous, too; I wanted this to be good for Brian.

We arrived at the address Liam had given Brian and it turned out to be a nice brownstone. We rang the bell, and after a little while, the door opened, and Liam greeted us.

“Hey, welcome, come on in.”

“Thanks.”

We moved inside and Liam showed us into a kitchen. There was a table in there, set for three.

“I like your kitchen,”

I said, and hoped Brian would remember. His head whipped around and he looked at me with a smirk. I guess he remembers.

“Thank you. My wife is an interior designer so she did the whole house.”

He didn’t say anything about Brian’s strange reaction, but I could see he wondered.

“I’m sorry, Liam, but Justin said the exact same thing the first time he saw my place in Pittsburgh. I’m a little nervous, so he’s trying to calm me down. Not that I don’t think he actually does like your kitchen; he’s a freak like that.”

He smirked again, I stuck my tongue out at him, he laughed along with Liam, and I soon joined them.

“Yeah, well, it worked like a charm, didn’t it?”

Brian gave me a little kiss on the temple.

“Yeah, it helped; thanks, Sunshine.”

“Sunshine?”

“My best friend since I was fourteen has the most amazing mother. Her name is Debbie and she was like a mother to me for a long time. When I met Justin, she took him under her wing, too and she named him Sunshine due to his amazing smile.”

I blushed, but I smiled, too.

“See what I mean?”

Brian gave Liam a pointed look and Liam just nodded and chuckled. That only made me blush more.

“Well, lunch is ready if you want some.”

We moved to the table and sat down. There were several kinds of sandwiches and it looked really good; my stomach growled and Brian laughed at me.

“It’s good to see your appetite has returned. You need the food.”

“How come? Is something wrong?”

Liam sounded concerned and I just liked him a little more at that.

“No, not really, but I have been in New York by myself for four months and I have missed Brian and my family terribly. I’ve had to work two jobs to afford rent and art supplies and there hasn’t been much left for food.”

I looked down in embarrassment at that.

“I remember when I first got here, and I even had a good paying job. I was miserable for the first six months. I missed Joan and my parents. I think I lost thirty pounds in that time before I started getting some friends, and after about a year, I met my wife.”

“You’re married?”

Brian sounded like the possibility never occurred to him.

“Yeah, my wife’s name is Cathleen. We have three kids: two girls and a boy.”

“Really? Brian has siblings?”

“Yes.”

Liam nodded and Brian looked shell-shocked. I put my hand on his arm and he looked like he calmed down a little.

“How old are they? What are their names?”

Brian had come out of his reverie.

“Bridget is 23, Dillon is 20, and Caitlin is 17.”

“Do any of them know about me?”

“Yes, I told Cathleen as soon as I came home after we met. She already knew about Joan, so all I had to tell her was that she had been pregnant when I left. We told the kids together last night.”

“And how did they react?”

Brian looked nervous, to me, at least. He tried to hide it by putting on his usual blank expression, but I know him better than that. He was scared shitless that these siblings he’d never met already hated him even for existing.

“They were so excited and wanted to know when they could meet you. When I told them about Justin, Caitlin was so happy she got up off the couch to do a little happy dance.”

Liam was chuckling lightly and I didn’t understand why.

“What was she so happy about?”

Brian sounded as confused as I felt.

“Sorry.” He chuckled a little more before continuing. “She’s a lesbian and was so happy to hear she wasn’t the only ‘freak’ in the family. Her word, definitely not mine or Cathleen’s. She came out to us two weeks ago; she had been so scared that we would disown her or something equally ridiculous, like we would do that to our daughter just because she’s gay.”

I winced and Liam saw that.

“Oh, god, I’m sorry. Did that happen to you?”

“Yeah, my dad wasn’t exactly happy. My mom took me to a shrink, thinking it was just a phase. She came around eventually, but my dad never did.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. It’s never made sense to me. I mean, it’s not like you suddenly change personality just because you come out. You’ve always been gay; now, you just tell people.”

He sounded so exasperated and I just beamed at him and I felt Brian relax next to me. He had been a little worried about that. He had had enough parents rejecting him already.

We talked some more, just mundane stuff about our careers; well, their careers and the one I’m trying to get. Liam did ask about Brian’s childhood some more, but Brian wasn’t ready yet.

“Did you see Joan?”

He sounded a little apprehensive and I can understand why. It’s not every day you meet a son you never knew you had, and then have him tell you that the woman you loved back then not only didn’t tell you, but let her husband punish the child for not being his.

“I did. She told me it was better this way; that I would have been illegitimate and that would have been horrible for me.”

“In New York in the 70’s? I very much doubt it would have mattered to anybody.”

We both just gaped at him.

“What? What did I say?”

“Almost word for word what I told her.”

“Wow, that’s some coincidence.”

“Yeah, well, she didn’t see it that way. She was afraid of being shunned from the church, and then, where would she have been? I don’t know; her logic is fucked.”

“I’m sorry, Brian; I know you probably hoped for a better explanation than that.”

“Not really; things happened about as I had expected them to.”

He shrugged and I reached out for him again. This time, he met me halfway, took my hand and intertwined our fingers.

We helped Liam clear the table after lunch, even though he told us we didn’t have to, and then, we sat back down.

“I have the papers on the loft. Should we get them signed?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

He got up and moved to his study where he retrieved his briefcase and came right back. He sat down, opened the case, took out a folder, and gave it to us. Holy crap, there’s a lot of paperwork to sign when buying real estate. Then, I took a closer look and felt an allergy attack coming on.

“Justin? What’s wrong?”

Brian sounded so worried and I couldn’t help but smile at him.

“It’s just the first time I’ve actually seen our names together on any kind of legal document. Don’t mind me; I’m just having a lesbianic moment.”

Brian chuckled lightly, but he also gave me a little kiss on the forehead before he started to sign and initial papers. When he was done, he pushed them over to me and I started signing. Suddenly, I got a spasm and the pen dropped out of my hand.

“Ow, shit.”

“Give it here.”

Brian reached out, took my hand, and started a massage like he’s done a million times before.

 **Brian POV**

“What’s the matter; can I do something to help?”

Liam sounded concerned and I looked at him and just shook my head.

“No, but thanks. The only thing that helps is a massage, and Brian’s already doing that.”

Justin looked so embarrassed and pissed at the same time. He hates when things like this happen when other people are there to see it.

“What happened?”

We looked at each other and I made a decision. If Liam and his family are going to be part of our lives, they will need to know.

“Justin and I met when he was seventeen. The first ten months we knew each other were somewhat tumultuous, to say the least. I was a promiscuous asshole, the stud of Liberty Avenue. I was set in my ways and scared of the way Justin made me feel; the way he saw through all my bullshit and never let me get away with any of it.” I looked at Justin and he gave me a little smile and squeezed the hand I had taken hold of when I started the story. “When Justin asked me to his high school prom, I turned him down flat, too damn proud to be seen in a room full of eighteen-year-olds and too scared of the signal it would send if I went. On the night of the prom, I changed my mind, put on my tux and went to the hotel. We shared one dance and a kiss in front of the entire senior class, and then, Justin followed me down to my Jeep. He had to go back up; he was taking home his date, his best friend, Daphne. I got in the Jeep and Justin walked away. While I was looking after him in the mirror of the Jeep, I saw one of his classmates come up behind him with a baseball bat. I hurried out of the Jeep and called out to him, but I was too far away and couldn’t get to him in time to stop Chris Hobbs from hitting him in the head with the bat.”

At this, I had to stop. I had to concentrate on my breathing so as not to break down completely. Justin stroked the back of my hand with his thumb and continued the story.

“I was in surgery after surgery for three days where they didn’t know if I was going to live or die, and then, I slipped into a coma. I was in that coma for two weeks, and when I woke up, I was in rehab for six weeks to learn how to use my hand again. It still cramps up every now and then if I overuse it or I’m wound up about something.”

“Oh my god, that’s terrible; isn’t there more they can do?”

“No, it’s not really my hand that’s the problem, it’s my head, and there isn’t anything to do about it.”

Liam nodded.

“That must have been hard on the both of you. An experience like that changes you.”

“Yes, it does, but it took me an extra three and a half years to acknowledge that, and only after almost losing Justin again in a bombing.”

“What?”

Liam looked shocked.

“Did you hear about the bombing of a gay club in Pittsburgh holding a benefit?”

“Yeah, a little under a year ago?”

“That’s the one. Justin was at the benefit.”

“Dang, did anything happen to you then?”

“No, I came out of it with only a few scratches and nothing more.”

“Well, thank god for that.”

“I did, plenty of times,”

I admitted, and then changed the subject.

“Did you find any of the other listings I asked you about?”

“So, you’re looking for office space?”

Liam took the hint and allowed the subject change.

“Yeah, it has to be in decent repair and like I said about 16,000 square feet. It would be preferable if it was close to the loft, but it’s not a must.”

“I’ve found a couple that could be interesting for what you need. Let me get my briefcase and I’ll show you.”

He took out three folders and gave them to me. I opened them on the table so both Justin and I had a clear view.

All three looked incredible, but there was one that stood out. It was the eighth and ninth floor in the building directly across from the loft. The space looked amazing, even if there were hardly any walls anywhere. Liam said that was easy to remedy and only an advantage since you could put in the walls where you wanted them. I guess that’s true.

The only walls in the place were the ones around the bathrooms. Other than that, we could arrange the space as we wanted it.

We agreed to meet Liam Friday at five PM. Justin had to work, so it would have to be after since I wanted him with me.

“Would you come to dinner afterwards? I’d really like you to meet Cathleen and the kids, please?”

I looked at Justin and I could see what he was thinking, it was my decision.

“Sure, if you’re sure it’s not an imposition.”

“An imposition to have my son and his partner for dinner? I don’t think so.”

Liam was smiling at me and I couldn’t help but smile back.

“Ok, then, we’ll see you Friday at the office space.”

“See you then.”

With that, Justin and I left the brownstone and went home. We would take over the new loft in two weeks, and until then, we would have to stay at Justin’s rat hole.


	6. Office space

**Brian POV**

Tuesday, Justin goes to work at the diner and I sit down with my laptop and connect to Justin’s high-speed Internet. I insisted on paying for that, along with his cell phone. There was no way I wasn’t going to be able to get in touch with him because he couldn’t afford it.

I have to get some work done, and until the office moves, this is the only way to do it.

I check on some things and then call Cynthia.

“Hey, Boss, how’s New York?”

“New York’s fine. We’ve found a loft and we’re going looking for office space on Friday.”

“Wow; that was fast. How’s Justin?”

“Too fucking thin, but at least he’s started eating now that I’m here. Thank the gods.”

“Sorry to hear that he hasn’t been doing well, but glad it’s getting better. So, what can I do for you?”

“Is there anything that needs me immediate attention?”

“Liberty Air wants a meeting. I think they are tired of Vanguard.”

I could hear the smile in her voice and I couldn’t help but smile, too.

“That’s great. When and where?”

“I told them we were in the process of moving our office to New York and asked could we have the meeting at their offices there. It was fine by them and you and I have an appointment on Wednesday next week.”

“That’s perfect. Send me all the information and I’ll see if I can come up with something for them by then. Thanks, Cynthia. If there is nothing else, I’ll get started on that.”

“Nope, nothing right now. I’ll e-mail you the specifics and I’ll talk to you soon.”

We hang up and I start researching Liberty Air. I had done it all before and remembered most of it, so it wasn’t long before the ideas started coming to me. I was so engrossed in work that I didn’t even hear Justin come home. I jumped about a mile when he leaned over me from behind and kissed my cheek.

“Shit, sorry, Brian. I thought you heard me.”

He looked as freaked as I felt; I guess I startled him with my reaction.

“Yeah, well, sorry’s bullshit, you know that.”

He nodded and kissed me again, this time on the lips. I could taste and smell diner food on him.

“You need a shower, Sunshine.”

“I know. Then, I figured we could go look at some furniture for the new place, if you’re up for it.”

I nodded my head.

“That sounds like a plan. Maybe we can go to Chelsea afterwards, see if we can find somewhere decent to eat near the new place.”

His whole face lit up at that.

“That’s a great idea. Maybe we should do that every day until we move in. It would be nice to know the area beforehand.”

I nodded and swatted his ass.

“Better get going then, Sunshine.”

He stuck out his tongue at me, but he did get moving. Once he was done with his shower and he had put on some clean clothes, we left. We took the Metro; no need to ruin a perfectly good evening with parking problems.

We started in front of our new building and walked towards 6th Avenue. We found a little Italian place, not much more than a hole in the wall, but the smells wafting out were amazing. Luckily, they had a table for us. After we ordered, we looked more closely around us and saw that there was artwork on the walls. Justin’s eyes got really wide and when the waiter brought our food; he asked about it.

“It’s by local artists who either can’t get a show at a gallery or who aren’t interested in getting one.”

That confused me.

“Why wouldn’t an artist be interested in getting his or her work in a gallery?”

“If it’s something they do more as a hobby, or because they hate the scene. You know, all the sucking up to the patrons and the critics.”

Justin nodded and I started thinking that he might not be interested in doing that and that worried me a little. He’d never make it as an artist without working all the angles.

“Who decides what artists to hang in here?”

Justin looked around while he asked.

“I do. I’m Marcello, the owner.”

We shook his offered hand and told him our names.

“We’re moving into a new place not far from here in about two weeks, so if the food is any good, you’ll probably see us again.”

Justin winked at him with just the right amount of flirting and mischief to get away with it. Marcello laughed and left us to our dinner.

We talked while we ate. I told him about Liberty Air and he broke out in the most amazing smile. I could see how proud of me he was in that smile and I felt like a superhero like my alter ego. He asked me if I needed some help putting together some graphics for the Liberty Air reps to see and I was floored. I never even thought about that. It would be great to have something to show them already on the first meeting.

“That would be great, if you can spare the time?”

“Don’t worry about it, Brian, I love doing campaign work for you. I get such a kick out of working with you like that. I was constantly hard when I worked at Vanguard.”

He winked at me and I couldn’t help the little bark of laughter escaping me.

“I know what you mean; I wasn’t much better off, myself.”

We smiled knowingly at each other and finished our main courses. Justin wanted dessert and I was not about to stop him. I wanted him healthy and dessert was not the best way to achieve that, but he needed some meat on his bones, first.

After dinner, we walked around the neighborhood; we started at the loft and looked at the building across the street. We were going with Liam inside the top two floors of that building on Friday.

It was a somewhat strange looking building. There was an elevator on the outside square in the middle of the building. The buildings on either side were only six stories high, which meant that the top four floors were free on either side.

The roof was slanted and was apparently made entirely out of glass. At least that’s what it looked like from the street. I looked forward to seeing what it looked like from the inside, and judging from his facial expression, Justin did, too.

We walked around Chelsea for a couple of hours before taking the Metro back to The Shithole, capital letters. I showed him what I had so far for Liberty Air and he sat on the couch and went to work. I plugged in the computer again and checked my e-mail.

Cynthia had sent everything we had on Liberty Air and I started reading. The apartment was quiet, except for the clicking of keys and the scrape of Justin’s stylus. It was nice to just sit around working and not be interrupted by employees or friends.

We work for about an hour, and then, we go to bed. Justin has to go to work early tomorrow, and when he gets home, we’ll go look at some furniture.

Once in bed (ok, on the mattress), I can’t keep my hands off him. He doesn’t exactly seem to mind my advances, since he latches onto one of my nipples once I’m close enough. I hiss and throw my head back. I guess he took that as encouragement, because he made his way down my body and took my now painfully hard cock into his mouth. I could hear a loud moan and had to admit, at least to myself, that the sound came from me.

He brought me off way too fast when he fucked my slit with his tongue and then deep throated me while humming around me.

I breathe deeply, trying to get my heartbeat back to normal while he crawls back up. He lies next to me while I recover. Once my breathing is under control, I reciprocate and, thankfully, I know how to bring him off just as fast as he can me. It would have been very embarrassing if I couldn’t.

 **Justin POV**

The week went by in a blur of activity. I loved working on the Liberty Air presentation with Brian. I know it’s just a preliminary meeting, but first impressions are everything.

Furniture shopping with Brian was an interesting experience. He has such particular tastes and can’t believe it when I don’t agree with him. He has gotten better over the years, and in the end, he conceded the fact that white and chrome might be a little stark in the new place, and not at all reflecting of me.

We found some furniture that was to Brian’s taste, but with a lot more color. The loft was going to be amazing and I couldn’t wait to move in.

Now, it was Friday and we were meeting Liam at the office building at five. That gave me just enough time to get home, take a shower, and put on some clean clothes.

We took the car there since we were going to Liam’s for dinner afterwards.

I know that Brian was nervous about that, not that he’d ever tell me that, but I know him better than that. He’s scared shitless that his new siblings will hate him as much as Claire does, and he really doesn’t need that in his life.

We arrive and find a parking spot about half a block from the new loft. I can’t wait to get rid of the car. As soon as we move in, we won’t really need it anymore. We see Liam waiting for us outside the building across from the loft and we go over to him and greet him.

 **Brian POV**

It’s still so surreal to see my own face aged like that. At least now, I know that I’ll still look good even when I start getting a few wrinkles. Liam actually doesn’t have that many to speak of, and that pleases me greatly. Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m a vain asshole, but we already knew that.

We go into the outside elevator and Liam uses a key to get the elevator moving for the eighth floor. It doesn’t move any higher than that, probably because the eighth and ninth floors are connected with an internal staircase.

We exited the elevator into a big open room with a lot of windows, one enclosed room; Liam told us it was the bathroom and the staircase. Liam took us around the open room, telling us that off to the right was the possibility of having another bathroom since there was a drain there from a former bathroom.

I saw Justin pull out a sketchpad and a pencil from his messenger bag and start drawing and scribbling. Liam looked at him a little strangely.

“Am I boring him?”

he asked me a little pointedly.

“No, he’s started getting ideas how to divide and probably decorate the place.”

I chuckled lightly looking at my amazing partner.

“He can do that?”

Liam sounded incredulous and a little impressed.

“Yeah, it’s not going to be to speck, but it’s going to give the architect something to work from.”

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

I nodded and we continued the tour by going upstairs. The room was the exact same as the one downstairs. Justin started drawing again and Liam gave me all the information about the place.

The price was very reasonable because of the condition it was in. After about thirty minutes, Justin came over and showed me the drawings he’d done. It looked great, exactly as I had imagined.

Liam looked over my shoulder and his jaw dropped.

“Justin, that’s amazing. You did this just walking around here?”

Justin shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s not like it’s the accurate dimensions or anything.”

“Still, it’s amazing. Whatever architect you hire is going to have a much easier time with it, if you decide to buy it, of course.”

I looked at Justin and he gave me a little nod and another shoulder shrug. It was up to me was the message. I already knew he felt that way, but I wanted his opinion. I looked around again and then at Justin’s drawings. I made up my mind; the space was perfect, and with the renovations, it was going to be perfect for Kinnetik NY.

“Give them a bid for a hundred thousand less than the asking price and see what they say. If they accept, we’ll see if we can find an architect and a contractor.”

Liam nodded and we took a last look around before leaving the building.

“Where are you parked?”

Liam looked at us and I pointed to the place where the car was parked.

“Me, too. You can follow me home if you want to.”

“Sure.”

We walked together and got in our separate cars. We followed Liam to the brownstone and parked out front. We walked up the stairs to the door and he opened it.

“Cathleen, come say hello to Brian and Justin.”

A tall, beautiful woman with flaming red hair came out into the hall and smiled brightly at us. She came right over to me and gave me a mighty hug. I hadn’t expected that and was somewhat taken aback, but managed to give her a halfhearted hug back.

“It’s so good to meet the both of you. I have been looking forward to this ever since Liam told me about you. Come on in.”


	7. Meeting the family

**Justin POV**

Cathleen and Liam led us into the living room, and there were their three kids. I could feel the apprehension coming off Brian in waves, but I’m sure none of the others could tell that anything was wrong.

They all stood and turned towards us. They introduced themselves and we sat down to talk, get to know each other, I guess you could call it.

Bridget, the oldest, looked a lot like Brian and Liam: the same chestnut hair and hazel eyes, and their faces were the same shape. It was a little disconcerting to see so many of Brian’s features on a woman.

Dillon, the only boy, looked like their mother. Flaming red hair and green eyes. He looked at us with the same apprehension that I knew Brian felt. He reached out his hand and we both shook it.

“Welcome to the family. Man, I’m so glad to meet you.”

A young woman bounded up to us and threw her arms around the both of us. She had the same flaming red hair that he mother and brother did, but her eyes were a dark green, almost brown, but not quite the hazel of her father.

I couldn’t help but chuckle a little at her exuberance.

“You must be Caitlin; your father told us you were happy to have other freaks in the family.”

I saw the shock and embarrassment play across her face at my words, and was just about to appease her, when Brian beat me to it.

“Well, at least now we know where the gay gene comes from.”

We all looked at Liam, who just shrugged and held up his hand in an attempt to look innocent.

“Hey, I don’t mind; in fact, I think it’s great.”

Cathleen said that dinner was ready and we all went into the dining room and sat down. All through dinner, we talked, mostly it was me, telling them about Brian and I, but the rest of them chimed in once in a while.

When dinner was done, we had coffee and tea in the living room and talked some more. This time, it was Liam doing most of the talking. He told us about his life and how he and Cathleen had met.

We also told them about the new loft and the fact that we would need a live-in housekeeper/cook. As it turned out, Cathleen’s brother had recently died, and his widow, Cathleen’s sister-in-law, was having a hard time making ends meet. She had been a stay-at-home mom, but the kids were all grown and had moved out; her husband had been an electrician and didn’t make a lot of money, so they didn’t have any savings to speak of. He did have a small pension, but that was all Kerry was living off of right now.

 **Brian POV**

It seemed like the perfect solution, for both her and us, but Justin and I wanted to meet her first; after all, she would be living in our home.

“Would she have a problem living in the same place as two highly sexual gay men? We will not temper ourselves for anybody.”

I know I sounded a little harsh, but this was important; there was no point in even meeting her if she would have a problem with us. Cathleen chuckled a little at that, and I was about to get really pissed when she started talking.

“Kerry is the epitome of an earth mother; the only thing that might bother you is the fact that she would more than likely mother you if you let her. She doesn’t have a prejudice bone in her body, and when we told he that Caitlin was gay, she said that she already knew that.”

I looked at Justin and he quirked a very Kinneyesque eyebrow at me and I knew what he was thinking; Deb. Kerry sounded a lot like Deb.

“Sounds great. Could you ask her to give one of us a call sometime next week?”

Cathleen nodded.

“Sure, she’ll be thrilled; she has been so worried. She has to move out of the apartment soon; it is way too big and expensive now that she lives there alone. She had no idea where she was going to go. We have tried to help her find a new place, but that’s not exactly easy in New York, not unless you have money. We had offered her to move in here until she found a job and a new apartment.”

She smiled at us and I could feel myself smiling back, but I also felt the pressure to hire Kerry. What if we just didn’t get along?

“Now, Cath, it’s starting to sound like you are putting pressure on Brian and Justin to hire her. They have to figure out if they can even get along; after all, they would be living practically on top of each other.”

Liam put his hand on his wife’s and squeezed it a little.

“God, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. If you don’t get along, of course you shouldn’t hire her. She might even decide that she wouldn’t want that kind of job.”

“It’s ok, Cathleen, we know you didn’t mean to put pressure on us.”

Damn, it’s good I have Justin for these kinds of things. He is so much better at it than I could ever hope to be.

We talked a little longer, and then, it was time for me and Justin to go. We said goodbye and they made us promise to come see them again. Caitlin even gave us the puppy dog look and asked us to show her all the best gay establishments.

“We haven’t even moved to Chelsea yet, Caitlin, but as soon as we’ve found our way around here, I promise to show you the good gay diners and we might even take you with us to the local GLC if we decide to ever go there.”

Justin gives me a funny look at that one, but only for a split second before he gets it. This is my little sister; he would do the same thing for Molly. The fact that I only just met her makes no difference; she’s still my sister. Not that I’d ever lift a finger to help Claire, not anymore, but she’s a cunt, and Caitlin’s…not.

 **Justin POV**

The next day is Saturday and we sleep in a little before going back to Chelsea to find a decent place to have brunch. We find a café that looks good from the outside and ok on the inside. It turns out the food is horrible: stale bread, limp ham and cheese, weak ass coffee and dried up fruit, definitely not a place we’ll ever visit again.

We walk around a little afterwards, just looking at the neighborhood before making our way to 5th Avenue and Saks. Brian wanted to look at the new collections, and I didn’t mind going with him. He’s like a kid in a candy store when he’s looking at designer wear; it’s really very cute, just don’t tell him that.

He ended up buying a new suit, and insisted that I get one, too. He wants to make sure I have something to wear if I ever have to go with him to dinner with a client or we are going to some benefit or other.

When we were done shopping, we went to an Italian restaurant called Alfredo’s of New York. The food was delicious and I ate so much I was almost comatose when we left. Brian was smiling brightly at the amount of food I packed away, but still felt the need to comment.

“If you keep eating like that, not only will you gain all the weight you’ve lost, you’ll add a lot more.”

There was a twinkle in his eyes when he said it, and I just made a face at him.

We walked towards the Subway to get back to my apartment. I was so looking forward to the move. I never really liked the place, but it was the only thing I could afford by myself, and there was no way I was going to let Brian pay for an apartment for me; it was bad enough that he paid of the internet and my phone.

Sunday we spend in and around the apartment; the next week would be busy and we needed to gather strength for it. We even go as far as to go to bed fairly early Sunday night.


	8. Bridget's paper

**Brian POV**

We saw Bridget on Saturday; she was studying public relations at NYU and wanted to ask me if she could pick my brain for a little while. When she first called, I was stunned; I had never before had any part of my family ask for my opinion on anything before; it felt pretty good. We agreed to let her come by; I just warned her to bring bug spray and a rat trap. Justin smacked me across the chest and yelled in the direction of my phone that his place really wasn’t that bad.

Bridget laughed, and that was another thing I had never experienced: a family member who laughed with me and my partner; it was really surreal for me.

When she showed up, I swept my hand out over the place as if to say, “See what I have to live in?”

“It’s not that bad, but it’s one of the reasons I still live at home. I could probably have gotten a small apartment with some roommates, but why would I want to do that when I can live at home? I pay my parents a little every week; not that I have to, but I want to. I can afford it; I work at the local Kinko’s.”

We both nodded; we could perfectly understand the need to feel at least a little independent.

“Student housing is better, but I didn’t think it would be fair of me to take a place from somebody from out-of-town who actually needed it, and I get along really well with my parents.”

She shrugged as if to apologize for that.

“You’re lucky that you do.”

I heard the wistful tone in Justin’s voice and I felt a little stab to my heart. I was wondering if he wished that things were different; if he wished he’d never met me so that he could have stayed at home.

“Don’t get me wrong; I wouldn’t have done a thing differently, but I wish I still had some kind of relationship with me father.”

It was like he knew what I had been thinking and he was talking to me, but he was looking straight at Bridget and hadn’t looked at me once, so I don’t think he was.

“I can’t even imagine what it must be like to be estranged from a parent like that.”

Justin waved it away, much like I would have, and I decided a change in topic might be a good idea.

“You said that you needed my help with something?”

“Right, like I told you yesterday, I’m a senior at NYU. The reason I haven’t finished yet is that I took a year off between my freshman and sophomore years. I was getting tired of school and I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I spent a year working one minimum wage job after another and found out that I definitely didn’t want to do that for the rest of my life, so, I went back to school. One of the jobs I had was as a waitress for a catering company; they did a lot of fundraisers and business parties. I learned that doing things like that can strengthen a business’ relationships with their clients and I liked the idea of organizing things like that.”

I nodded; it’s true that one party can do wonders for a business, and it’s usually a PR firm that helps businesses realize that.

“That’s true, but what do you want from me?”

“I just want you to read over this paper I did and tell me if I’m barking up the wrong tree, so to speak. It’s about the blending of advertising and PR, and the benefits for the client to have the two blend together instead of separately. It’s for my final grade and I just want to know what you think.”

I was stunned; I really was. It never occurred to me that someone other than Justin would actually look to me for anything like that, but I nodded, and she pulled a folder out of her bag and gave it to me. I took it and sat on the couch with it. Justin offered her some coffee and they went to the kitchen to make some.

I started reading and got so engrossed that I hardly noticed when Justin came over with a mug of coffee for me; he just stuck it in my hand.

Once I was done reading, I sat for a while just thinking before I put down the paper and looked around for Bridget.

 **Justin POV**

We saw Brian finish and Bridget was just about to go over to him when I stopped her.

“He’ll need some time to gather his thoughts; if you approach him now, you’ll get a brush off, not because he doesn’t like either you or the paper, but he never gives an opinion on something before he’s given it a lot of thought. He’ll seek you out when he’s done thinking.”

“Oh, ok, that makes sense, I think.”

She looked a little stunned and I just chuckled.

“He takes things like that very seriously; he’s not going to give you some half-assed answer. He’ll rather wait and think it through and then give you his honest opinion on a subject, any subject really.”

“Hm, I like that. That probably means that you can also trust that he’ll give you his honest opinion, right?”

“Absolutely. Brian can be brutal, but he’s always honest, always.”

We had been talking about what had happened when my dad found out that I’m gay; the way he insisted that I never talk about it again and when I refused, how he practically threw me out of the house.

She was shocked that a parent could react like that.

“Yeah, you and me both. I knew he wouldn’t be happy about it, but I never thought he would do something like that. My mother didn’t exactly agree with him, but she didn’t fight him too hard either; it took her a few months to come to terms with it all and then they got a divorce; imagine the guilt that evoked. I almost accepted a place at Dartmouth in a vain hope that it would get them back together.”

“That’s crazy, Justin; no outside force can destroy a marriage unless the people in the marriage let it.”

“I know that now, but I was 18 at the time and my entire world had fallen apart around me.”

I shrugged and we talked for another half hour before we saw Brian get up off the couch and walk over to us.

 **Brian POV**

When I get to them, I grab Justin around his waist and he leans into me a little.

“I corrected a few factual mistakes, but there weren’t many. I think the paper is great, but more than that, I think I’ll incorporate it into Kinnetik. If you are interested, I’d like to offer you a job when you’ve graduated; I think you could add an edge to the company that other Ad agencies don’t have.”

She gaped at me and Justin had to nudge her before she woke from her stupor.

“Are you serious? Kinnetik is doing so great already; I had actually heard about it before I met you. You are the biggest agency in Pennsylvania and rapidly growing into one of the biggest on the east coast, and all that in only two years.”

I felt the pride at my accomplishment fill me and a smile spread across my face.

“Yes, I’m serious. You make a good point in your paper; it would give us an advantage in the pursuit of a client if we were able to offer that kind of service to our clients. We should probably find a caterer to cooperate with, too.”

“Do you think Em would be interested in moving to New York? I mean, Ted is moving here and we are here. Michael and Ben are so busy with their own lives that they don’t really have time to hang out as much anymore; he’s going to be lonely in the Pitts. If you offer him a job with Kinnetik, he might be willing to move here.”

I look at Justin and start thinking. It makes sense, and Em was not particularly pleased when Ted and I told him that we were both moving to New York.

“That might work. I don’t have to hire him, just put him on a retainer. That way, he can do his own thing when I don’t have anything for him. With all the galleries in New York, it shouldn’t be a problem for him to find work, he has experience in that field, and weddings are everywhere, the same with Bar Mitzvahs. You’re a genius, Sunshine.”

Bridget looked thoroughly confused, so Justin told her who Ted and Emmett are and I called him right away. After I had assured Bridget that I really meant it when I said I wanted to hire her, I even called legal at Kinnetik to have them draw up a contract and send it to me here.


End file.
